Winning lottery only the beginning for Sixers

IF YOU are a 76ers fan and basked in the glory of the team landing the top lottery pick Tuesday night, your focus probably quickly changed to what does it all mean going forward.

When the first sequence of pingpong balls were 1, 10, 5 and 9 in the draft lottery's Drawing Room at the New York Hilton Midtown on Tuesday, which ensured head coach Brett Brown's team the first pick, the Sixers' future became a little less murky. It doesn't ensure instant success, and it certainly doesn't cement some kind of playoff push for the 2016-17 season, but it does provided a ray of light over an organization that played in cave-like darkness for three seasons.

Should the Sixers stay at the top spot for the June 23 draft, it would appear that either LSU forward Ben Simmons - he of the tremendous versatile, guard-like game in a 6-10 body - or Duke's Brandon Ingram, the rail-thin 6-9 forward with the sweet-shooting touch and a defensive presence aided by a 7-3 wingspan, would be the choice.

Simmons seems to be the type of player who would help the Sixers thrive in the new style of play in the NBA. He is a big man who can handle the ball on a fastbreak, is a deft shooter in the halfcourt, is able to take his man to the basket either off the dribble or on a backdown, and is an above-average rebounder at both ends of the court. A couple of months back, Sixers adviser Jerry Colangelo let his mind wander a bit and acknowledged his desire to see Simmons run the point-guard spot.

In Ingram, the Sixers would get an 18-year-old who carries only 195 pounds. He possesses three-point shooting range and is good at getting to the basket, where he used his extraordinary length to shoot over and around defenders in college. That will become very hard to do at the pro level, however, as he will face not only bigger defenders but stronger ones. Pushing him away from where he wants to go wouldn't be very hard right now. Defensively, while he gets beat often off the dribble, he makes up for it by using that tremendous wingspan to either block or alter shots even though he is seemingly out of position.

As he and his game grow, Ingram could be a matchup nightmare for opponents, with his ability to score inside and out.

Of course, so many other variables could come into play as to whom Brown, president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo and vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley will select next month.

The organization continues to say Joel Embiid is on target for his debut after having his right foot surgically repaired twice. The question, and one that seems to be a big secret in the organization, is what is the target date? Do they really want him to try to be healthy for July's summer leagues? Or has that been scratched altogether and the hope is that Embiid is ready to go by training camp in late September? Are they confident he will be able to play a full season next year?

And what of Dario Saric? Brown and Bryan Colangelo will go to Istanbul to visit the 6-10 forward in the coming weeks with the hopes of talking him into coming over and playing in the upcoming season. Saric apparently has said that is his desire, but we've heard that before, and it wouldn't make sense financially for him to come over until the 2017-18 season, when the money would be better.

Will it affect whom the Sixers choose with the top pick if either Embiid or Saric - or both - is unavailable this season? Maybe not, but the point is that anything is in play right now. That is the luxury that garnering the top pick provides.

And what about trades? Right now with Embiid and Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel, along with the possible additions of Simmons and/or Saric, there is a real logjam down low. Does that lend to moving someone, perhaps in the hopes of landing another pick high in the draft? Some reports and blogs have speculated that Okafor might be moving to Los Angeles or Boston with the Sixers getting the second or third pick. That would lead to a scenario in which the Sixers could get Simmons or Ingram and fill the need at point guard by getting Kris Dunn, of Providence, or maybe both Simmons and Ingram coming here.

Moving Okafor is risky. If he is traded, and Embiid continues to be hampered by injury, the Sixers might have to move forward with Noel as the starting center. Is that really what they want?

As expected, the Sixers are overflowing with excitement at having won the first pick in the draft. Now the real work, questions and debate can begin.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog